Book Review || The Sword of Summer

It’s been three long weeks since you all heard a peep out of me, but I’ve been insanely busy lately; so much so that I haven’t been able to properly sit down at my laptop and type up anything. Sorry about that! Here’s the long-awaited review of Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Sword of Summer. I finished it a while ago but never found the time to review it—I hope you enjoy it!

Author: Rick Riordan

Publishing Company: Disney Hyperion

Release Year: 2015

Genre(s): YA, Contemporary Fiction, Mythology

Series: Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard (Book One)

My Summary

Magnus Chase is… an unconventional teen. He’s lived on the streets of Boston after his mother was killed a few years ago. His life is certainly not normal—but even he didn’t expect to be told by his estranged uncle that he’s the son of a Norse god and fight a demon with an ancient sword he retrieves from the bottom of the Charles River. Oh, and he definitely didn’t expect to die…

And yet, it’s the furthest thing possible from the end of his adventure. After landing in an afterlife for the brave who are being trained to fight in Ragnarok, the battle of the apocalypse, Magnus realizes that everything in his life has changed. Teaming up with a teenage warrior, a fashionable dwarf, and an elf who is learning magic, Magnus must find out his family history, what to do with the ancient Sword of Summer, and how to stop the Seven Worlds—especially Midgard, the human world—from being taken over by evil forces while trying to stay alive at the same time.

My Thoughts

Rick Riordan is back at it again! (By that I mean that he is writing books that cause me to go completely fangirl-crazy over and hand my money over to bookstores without a single coherent thought.) 🙂 In all seriousness, however, this book was so good! Ugh, where to begin…?

Since I’m not sure how else to review this book without going on a long rant, I’ve organized everything into bullet points.

+ First of all: Norse mythology! It’s pretty new for me—I’m a nut for Greek, Roman, and Egyptian mythology but I’ve never really delved into the world of Odin, Thor, and the others. Can’t wait to learn more!

+ When I was first starting the book, I’ll admit that I was rather scared that Magnus Chase would be a clone of Percy Jackson, personality-wise. Luckily, he’s his own person—and that definitely pleases me. 🙂 However, it does seem that the two have the same snarky, witty sense of humour. While I did quite enjoy Magnus’s amusing observations of the situations he lands in and the people he meets, it was a bit too reminiscent of the Percy Jackson novels.

+ The cast of The Sword of Summer is very diverse, and I think that’s wonderful! 🙂 You’ve got Magnus, who happened to be homeless, Blitzen, an African-American dwarf, Hearthstone, a deaf elf, Samirah Al-Abbas, a Muslim teen girl who just happens to be a warrior for the Norse gods, and a ton of great characters. It makes me happy to see minorities represented in literature.

+ The plot was compelling and exciting for the most part. The ending dragged a bit and was rather predictable, to be honest, but overall, it was an action-packed and suspenseful novel. I still found myself liking Riordan’s previous books better, but I still really enjoyed The Sword of Summer, which was a relief.

+ I loved the chapter names! Rick Riordan is hilarious. Some of them included:

“13. Phil the Potato Meets His Doom”

“20. Come to the Dark Side. We Have Pop-Tarts”

“23. I Recycle Myself”

“39. Freya is Pretty! She Has Cats!”

“48. Hearthstone Passes Out Even More than Jason Grace (Though I Have No Idea Who That Is)”

The one above is my favourite— a sneaky reference to the Heroes of Olympus series. 😉 And finally…

“53. How to Kill Giants Politely”

+ All in all, a must read for Rick Riordan fans, mythology lovers, and anyone interested in an exhilarating, well-written novel that combines the modern and ancient worlds. 🙂

Well, that’s it for today, everyone! See you soon, and happy November! (How are we almost at the end of the year?)

One thought on “Book Review || The Sword of Summer”

Thanks for another wonderful review! All the odd numbered titles appear particularly funny 😀
So Norse is the new in…and happy to hear the new series doesn’t (yet) appear to be a repeat ride through the Percy Jackson mythological adventures !